Uber Ignores German Ban and Motors Ahead

The transport company is outright ignoring the ban

Sometimes in business and in life, its worth bending the rules if the overall payoff is going to be great. This is obviously Uber’s rationale regarding its decision to continue its services, in the face of an outright ban.

Yesterday, the district court in Frankfurt ruled that UberPop, the peer-to-peer private limousine order service, was to be banned nationwide because of its flagrant violation of German competition law.

“In Germany, commercial passenger transport is only allowed with a permission by the local authorities which the Uber drivers don’t have."

Dr. Arne Hasse of the Frankfurt court, confirmed the details of the injunction in an email to TechCrunch:

“In Germany, commercial passenger transport is only allowed with a permission by the local authorities which the Uber drivers don’t have.

The injunction was brought by a taxi drivers’ union which also operates a taxi app. A hearing will only take place if Uber applies for it. The injunction is immediately enforceable; Uber can apply for a suspension of the immediately enforceability.”

Uber has decided to ignore the ruling and go full steam ahead, even if doing so incurs a ban of €250,000 ($323,068) fee (per trip).

Uber has encountered these problems in many districts it has tried to establish itself in. Its main strategy has been to bull ahead and do what it wants anyway. The publicity that the legal disputes generate has done wonders for the app - in the last week alone the app’s rate of download has increased by 590% in the German city of Hamburg.

Uber has made some strategic hires recently. They headhunted Barack Obama's former campaign manager and advisor. David Plouffe will make the move to Uber in late September, as they gear up to expand nationally and internationally.

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